


Dream in Colour

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brief mentions of suicide, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Getting Together, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, POV First Person, POV Merlin (Merlin), Protective Merlin, just warning you, nothing graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: From the moment you are born, until the day you meet your soulmate, you see everything in black and white. For Merlin Emrys, a seventeen year old boy in his final year of high school, this is just normal. However, one day he starts dreaming in colour. This occurrence has never been heard of before. Now Merlin has to figure out why his dreams are different than everyone else's, all while also trying to bring that same colour into his real life.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was an original work I had written a while ago (before I started watching Merlin). If any characters are OOC, that’s why. If you find any inconsistencies with names and such, please let me know so I can fix them!!

I can feel myself slowly waking up and I fight it as best I can. Sadly it doesn't help much. However, as my brain slowly starts working again, I snap my eyes open. My eyes flick around my room, taking in the usual shades of black and grey. The only white is near my window, where small rays of sunlight are peaking in under the curtains. To my surprise, I'm almost disappointed that everything is normal, and for a moment I'm confused as to why. For all of my seventeen and a half years on this Earth, I've only  ever  seen in black and white. So why is this morning any different?

I can feel the dream I was having slowly slipping away the more conscious I become, and that's when I finally understand. My dream wasn't in black and white like it usually is. I was dreaming in colour.

My heart starts pounding as I continue staring up at the ceiling. How is that possible? I've never heard of someone who hasn't met their soulmate yet dreaming in colour. As far as I know, it's never happened. Closing my eyes, I run my hands over my face, pressing them down on my eyes until I see stars behind my closed eyelids. When I reopen my eyes, everything is as it was before. No hint of the colours from my dream anywhere. I let out a shaky sigh before finally throwing my covers off of my body and sitting up.

Goosebumps erupt over my skin as the cool air of my room meets my bare skin. I shiver slightly, running my hands through my hair, then groggily get to my feet. I briefly think about how I need a haircut as I stumble across my room to my dresser. Pulling open a drawer, I grab the first pair of jeans I see, which just so happen to be my favourite pair of black skinny jeans. I smile at the memory of my father first seeing me wearing them. I think that was the moment he realized that his only son, only child for that matter, might not necessarily have a female soulmate. My Mom, of course, already had her suspicions and simply went about making my father a cup of strong black coffee.

Closing that drawer, I pull open another and grab a loose fitting band tee. The faded image of The Beatles shows how often I've worn this particular garment. I've often wondered what colour this shirt is. To me, it's a dark grey, but it could be any dark colour. Greys are funny that way. Shaking the thought from my head, I pull the shirt over my head before struggling on my tight fitting jeans. Grabbing my cologne, I spritz a bit on. Not too much though, cause that's just distasteful. Just enough to keep me smelling good throughout the whole day. A quick trip to the bathroom down the hall gets my hair fixed somewhat and a layer of deodorant on.

Lingering thoughts of colours are still consuming my mind as I make my way down the stairs and to the kitchen. The smell of eggs and bacon cooking tease my senses as I slowly approach. My Mom is at the stove flipping pancakes as I enter, while my Dad is sitting at the table reading the local news on his tablet. From what I can see, it's yesterday's news. They both look my way as I settle into a chair at the table.

"Good morning, son." My Dad greets, voice gruff but somehow pleasant, just like it is every morning. My Mom smiles.

"Good morning, Merlin." She says in her sweet as honey voice. I can always see why my Dad fell in love with her, despite the whole soulmate thing. She really is a lovely woman. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute." She adds cheerily before turning back to the stove top. I stay silent, merely studying the patterns on the table cloth in front of me.

"Something on your mind?" My Dad's voice makes my head snap up, attention pulled forcefully back to the present. I fake a smile and shake my head.

"Just tired, is all." I lie. I desperately want to ask about my dream, describe the colours I saw and get names. Sure, in school we  _learn_ colour names. Red, green, blue, yellow. I know all the names, but they've always been just different shades of grey. But in that dream there were  _so many_ colours and I want to know what they all are. However, I keep my mouth shut. Like I said before, people who haven't met their soulmate yet aren't supposed to dream in colour.

_'So_ _why am I?'_

"You sure you're okay, Sweetie?" My Mom asks as she places a plate of food on the table in front of me.

"Of course." I assure her, getting to my feet to go grab a mug from the cupboard. Once it's filled with coffee, and practically murdered with cream and sugar, I go back to my seat. Once I'm settled, I look up, only to find both of my parents looking back at me with concern.

"Are you  _sure_ ? Merlin, you're acting a little off today. Are you getting sick?" I smile politely at my Mom and shake my head.

"I feel fine, Mom. I promise." She doesn't look convinced, but after sharing a look with my Dad, she lets it go. I shift uneasily in my seat as my Dad scrutinizes me from across the table for a short moment longer. However, he soon shrugs and returns his attention to the important world events displayed on the screen in front of him. As silence takes over the table, my mind once again wanders into dangerous territory. Before I can really stop myself, I've opened my mouth and blurted out the burning question in my mind.

"What colour is my shirt?" My parents both look up, eyebrows raised in surprise. It's been years since I've talked about colour at all. Eleven, to be exact.

"Uhm," my Dad frowns, "it's brown, with lighter shades of the same making up the image." I nod my head, letting the information flow through my mind. I hear my Dad say something, but I'm so lost in my thought that I don't make out the words.

"Hmm?" I look up from my plate to look at my father. He frowns slightly, that concerned look back again.

"I asked why? You haven't been interested in colours since you were six years old. Have you started seeing some colours?" My Mom looks excited at the prospect of me starting to see some colour here and there. When you're in close proximity to your soulmate, some colours will appear. Someone's shirt, or a single bouquet of flowers, for example. It's not until you actually make direct contact and talk to them for the first time that everything explodes into colour. I hate to let her down, but I shake my head no, feeling slightly guilty as my Mom's excitement turns into disappointment. Which is stupid, seeing as it's not my fault. I have zero reason to feel guilty, but I do all the same.

"No. I was just curious. I've worn it so many times and I guess I just wondered what it actually looked like." I shrug, trying to play it off. Once again, I don't think either of them really buy it, but they let it go anyway. They both smile before sharing a look, then return to what they were doing before I so stupidly opened my mouth.  _'What was I thinking? Jesus, how did I really think that was going to go? If they weren't suspicious before, then they certainly will be now.'_

My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out and nearly choke as I look at the time. I disregard the text from my friend Will for now and instead jump to my feet. "I'm gonna be late, I gotta go." Grabbing my empty plate and mug, I drop them in the sink and rush back up the stairs to grab my bag and keys.

My Mom and Dad are at the front door as I hurry down the stairs. Looks like my Dad is just leaving for work now. I pull my Vans on, thanking everything that is good and holy that I was too lazy to untie them last night. I reluctantly let my Mom pull me into a quick, last minute hug.

"If there is something,  _anything_ , that you need to talk about, please let me help." She whispers in my ear, keeping her voice low enough that only her and I can make out her words. I smile fondly as I pull back.

"I'm fine, really. But if you really want to, maybe we can talk later." She gives me a bright smile in return. Once I'm free to go, I run out the door and make my way down to my car. It's a total piece of crap, but it gets me from A to B. My phone goes off again as I unlock the door and slide in behind the wheel. With a sigh, I pull it from my pocket to see what Leon wants.

_**From: Will, 8:21 AM**  
Mate, where are you? You're gone be late again._

_**From: Will, 8:27 AM**   
Heads up to be careful coming in. Kilgharrah looks like he's out for blood. Yours specifically. _

I slam my hand against the steering wheel and curse under my breath. Principal Kilgharrah has had it out for me ever since I started at this high school four years ago. I've never been able to figure out why, and I doubt I'll ever know. It can't be because I have awful siblings, because I don't have any. Maybe the dude is immortal and had a problem with my Dad when he was in school. I've heard that he was quite the class clown in his day. But, all reasoning aside, I am late and he's on the hunt for my head.  _Lovely_ . 

Once my car is on, I shift into drive and make my way down the familiar streets to my school. By this point, most people are already where they're supposed to be for the day, so most of the streets are empty except for me. I drum my fingers restlessly on the steering wheel as I wait for the last street light to change, sighing in relief as it switches to green. I speed down the last stretch of road and pull into the parking lot. I make sure to park far enough away from the main doors so that if Principal Kilgharrah is waiting and watching for me, he won't notice me pull in late. Grabbing my bag from the passenger seat, I quickly climb out of my car and hurry to close and lock the door.

I bypass the main entrance, opting instead for the one side door that always seems to be unlocked. I'm in luck today as it swings open silently, letting me into the building I like to call Hell. Does anyone really like school? Even the teachers here are bloody miserable, and they at least get paid. I peek through the next set of doors leading to the hallway, and breathe a sigh of relief as I see absolutely nobody. I slip through the doors, being extra careful to close the door quietly, and hurry through the halls to my locker. I'm almost there, maybe fifty feet away, when I hear Principal Kilgharrah's voice behind me.

"Mr. Emrys!" He roars, voice pulling me to a halt.

" _Shit._ " I mumble under my breath. I stand there silently, listening to his approaching footsteps, only looking up once his shoes come into view. I have to stop myself from laughing, cause they are honestly the ugliest things I've ever seen. Like, seriously, who would buy shoes  _that_ colour?

My body freezes as my brain catches up with my senses. I snap my gaze up to meet Principal Kilgharrah's fuming face. He continues on his rant, not even realizing that I'm not paying attention. First, I dream in colour, and now I'm seeing the colour of my principal's shoes?

I glance around frantically, but we're alone in the hallway. "Mr. Emrys! Eyes on  me  when I'm talking to you!" He yells. I refrain from rolling my eyes as I look back at him. "Detention after school today." He snarls, handing me a red slip of paper.  _'Detention Slip'_ is written across the top in big, bold letters, followed by the room number and time below.  Great . I'm gonna be stuck here for an extra hour after school today. He storms away, ugly shoes hitting the linoleum tiles harder than is really necessary. As he rounds the corner, all traces of colour are gone, and I'm once again left in the black and white expanse of he hallway.

With a sigh, I approach my locker, taking my sweet time in opening it and grabbing my books. Why am I seeing colour here now? It's not a big school, I know mostly everyone, and there's no new students that I know of. Or teachers for that matter. So, if I've met everyone already, why is one of them suddenly my soulmate  now and not before?

A hand on my shoulder makes me jump. Whirling around, I come face to face with Will. Thankfully, everything stays greyscale. I don't know what I'd do if I suddenly got matched with my best friend. "Hey mate, what's on your mind? Kilgharrah find you?" I chuckle and nod.

"Unfortunately. Wanna skip first class? I got something on my mind."

Will nods. "Yeah, sure. Under the bleachers?" I nod my agreement and we make our way through the halls as stealthily as we can. We duck into the nearest Men's room as we hear the clicking of a teacher's heels approaching, then continue on our way as they pass. I breathe in the fresh air as we step outside. The atmosphere in there is really quite stifling.

"So, what's on your mind?" Will asks as we make our way to the football field bleachers.

"I, uh, I had a dream last night." I answer vaguely. He gives me a look and I laugh. I sober up as I continue, though. "Will, I dreamt in colour last night." He stops walking and grabs my arm.

"Wait, what?" I look him in the eyes.

"I haven't met my soulmate, but I dreamt in colour."


	2. Chapter 2

“So, what do you think is going on?" Will asks as we pack up our things and leave the detention room. He got nailed too when Mrs. Caerleon caught us both trying to sneak back into the school before second period. I think for a minute, but I honestly don't know.

"I have no idea, mate. As far as I know, it's never happened before." I had also told him about seeing the colour of Kilgharrah’s shoes. So far, that's the only colour I've seen all day, and when I saw him again at lunch I no longer saw the awful things as they actually are. Nope, everything was back to the usual greyscale. Which means that whoever my soulmate is, they were only around for a short time.

"Maybe someone lost their soulmate and got rematched?" He pipes up. I shake my head though.

"No, I don't think so. All the things we learned in school said that everyone only ever has one soulmate. Once they're gone, you're alone forever. Which is just plain depressing when you really think about it." I reply. Will nods along, face screwed up in thought. We continue on in relative silence, stopping briefly at our lockers before making our way down to the student parking lot outside.

"Are you gonna tell your parents?" He asks as we stop at his much closer, and nicer, car. I stop and think. I  _did_ tell my Mom that maybe we could talk later. I know she was really worried about me this morning, but is what I have to say really going to make her feel better? I mean, her only child is currently experiencing something that historically has never happened before. That's not exactly reassuring.

"I don't know if I should. I don't want to worry them, ya know?" Will nods, but I can tell from the look on his face that he doesn't agree.

"Merlin, they're going to worry about you either way. They're your parents, dude. It's kind of in their job description. Besides, this is big, and you shouldn't have to go through it alone." He shrugs then pats my shoulder. "But whatever you decide to do, just know that I'm here for you." I smile appreciatively.

"Thanks, Will." He smiles back and slaps my shoulder fondly.

"Anyway, I gotta run. Have a good evening, man." I turn in the direction of my car as he gets into his. He waves as he passes me, just as I'm unlocking my own. I wave back, then slide back in behind the wheel. I take a moment to think about what Will said. He  _is_ right. They're going to worry about me either way. They always have. And how long can I keep this a secret anyway? I weigh the pros and cons, and surprisingly decide against telling them. Not yet, anyway. I need to figure out more about what's going on first. Maybe it was a one time thing anyway. I don't even believe myself as the thought forms in my head.

With my decision made, I start my car and back out of my spot. The rest of the lot is empty by now, everyone else having gone home already. My mind is elsewhere as I make my familiar way home, so much so that I'm parking out front before I even fully realize that I'm at the house. Both of my parents cars are in the driveway, parked side by side outside the closed garage door. I know what you're thinking. Why have a garage and not use it, right? And the answer to that is unsatisfyingly simple. I honestly have no idea. I think that my Dad might have some failed dream at having a shop in there, but as of now it's just full of crap we don't need.

"Merlin, is that you?" My Mom calls from the living room. I roll my eyes good-naturedly. Who else would it be?

"Yeah!" I call back, toeing my still tied Vans off and pushing them out of the way. As I step further into the house, my Mom's head appears around the corner.

"Did you get detention again?" She asks. She doesn't look or sound disappointed in me, but I know she is. I wince a little and nod. Her lips purse together into a straight line as she nods. "Dinner will be a little late tonight. I didn't get the roast on till about 3:30." I nod with a smile.

"That's fine." I pass by her on my way to the stairs, so I pause briefly to give her a hug. I can feel her eyes trained on my back as I ascend the stairs, but I don't look back. She's only going to want answers to questions that I don't want to get right now. I need to at least try and figure this out first.

I close my door behind me, but don't lock it.It's not like I'm doing anything illegal. I just want some answers. Dropping my bag by my desk, I grab my tablet and continue on to my bed. As it turns on, I climb atop the mattress and scoot back so I can lean against the headboard and balance the tablet on my thighs. I glance briefly at the door, almost like I'm subconsciously checking that neither of my parents have magically appeared in the doorway, before tapping on the Google icon in the bottom left corner.

I stare at the search bar for a moment before I go into settings on the web browser and change my window to  _'Incognito'_ . I don't know how much that is really going to help, but the less chance I have of someone finding what I'm about to look up, the better. With the screen now darker, I go back to the search bar and type in  _'dreaming in colour'_ . My eyes almost bug out as over one million related items show up. With a sigh, I tap on the first one, resigning myself to a spending a very long time researching.

After about ten articles, I get frustrated. This is just telling me everything I already know. Normally, everything is black and white until you meet your soulmate, then it changes. Your everyday life and your dreams become colour. Having one be in colour and the other not has never been heard of before. With a frustrated sigh, I go back to the Google page and swipe back up to the search bar. I pause for a moment before tapping on the words and changing them to _'no soulmate and dreaming in colour'_. A moment of hesitation fills me, making me second guess what I'm doing, before I shake it off and press search. The little wheel spins until it finishes loading, producing only one result. My heart is pounding as I tap on the link.

A website for a Dr. Gaius comes up on the screen. I hold my breathe as I scroll down the page a bit, eyes flicking quickly over the words. Once again, it's just like everything else I've ever read or heard about colour. However, before I close the tab in frustration, I see a link at the bottom of the page called  ' _Theories'_ . I tap on it in interest, heart rate once again skyrocketing as the new page loads. Once it does, I let out my breath in a shaky exhale.

_ 'What we know of colour and soulmates is limited to what we have seen so far. That being said, I have some theories regarding the loss of soulmates and the reincarnation of them inside of other people. As this has never been before seen in anyone, it is, as of yet, just a theory. —Dr. Gaius.' _

I read over the words several times before scrambling to find the contact page. When I do, I quickly copy the email address and paste it into a blank email. Pausing for a moment, I flex my fingers and think over exactly what I'm going to say.

_Hello Dr. Gaius,  
My name in Merlin Emrys. I've learned all the usual things about soulmates, and I've never had any questions about it. However, something has happened to me that I have never heard of before. I've not yet met my soulmate, but I've started dreaming in colour, and just this morning I saw a flash of colour at school even though I've met everyone in my high school before. Is your theory on the reincarnation of soulmates in other people an actual, plausible thing? _   
_ —Merlin Emrys _

I hit send before I can second guess myself. Letting out a breath I hadn't even realized that I'd been holding, I close out of my email and shut my tablet off. My hands are shaking slightly as I set it down on the bed beside me. Could that be what's happened to me? Could the universe have changed its original plan and switched soulmates? What could possibly happen to create such a change?

I'm torn from my thoughts by a knock on my door. I jump as I turn my head to look at who's there. My Mom is standing there in the now open doorway, concerned look on her face. "Merlin, are you okay? I've been trying to get your attention for a couple minutes now. Did something happen at school?" She slowly comes into my room, crossing the mildly messy floor until she's standing beside my bed. I try to offer her a smile, but it's harder than usual. In response, she reaches out and brushes my messy hair off my forehead so she can press her palm against my skin.

Her worried eyes find mine as I inhale. "Mom, I'm fine. You need to trust me on this. If I need help or advice, I promise that I will come to your first, okay?" She studies my face intently before finally, reluctantly, backing down and dropping her hand.

"Okay." She replies. "But if you do need anything... you used to tell me everything." She adds quietly, making a pang of guilt jolt through me. She's not wrong. I _did_ used to talk to her about everything in my life. I've always been very close with my Mom. I grab her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze before letting go again.

"I know, Mom, but this is just something I have to deal with on my own first." I realize my mistake once the words are out of my mouth. My Mom's eyes widen, and for a moment it looks like she's going to ask about what I mean, but instead she gives me a sad smile and nods.

"Okay. Dinner is ready." I return her smile.

"Okay. I'll be right down." She hesitates before turning and leaving my room. I feel so damn guilty, but how do I explain what's happening to me if I don't even know myself? I need more answers before I can fully, and properly, tell my parents what's going on. Will was right. They do deserve to know. This is too big to keep from them.

I'm once again jolted from my thoughts, this time by my phone going off. I'm expecting a text from Will, but as I grab my phone and check the screen for my notification, it's not a text that I've gotten. It's an email. Specifically an email from Dr. Gaius. I look up at my open door, trying to decide on whether to read it now, or to wait until after dinner. Gnawing on my lower lip, I let my thumb hover over the home button for a few more seconds before finally deciding. Once my phone is unlocked, I open my email app. I stare at the new email for another moment or two before opening it.

_ Hello Mr. Emrys,  _   
_This truly is an interesting and exciting occurrence. I am very much pleased that you came to me for answers. I could go into detail here, but I feel I would be able to explain myself better, and get a better feel of your situation, if we were to meet in person. I realize that you are currently in high school, but if you would be able to come into my office afterwards tomorrow, I would very much like to meet you. I will clear my schedule so we can have the proper time to examine what is happening. I very much look forward to hearing back from you._   
_ —Dr. Gaius _

I read over the words carefully twice before sending back a reply that I will be in to see him tomorrow afternoon, probably around 3:45. Once it's sent, I shakily get to my feet and make my way downstairs, mind whirling with questions.


	3. Chapter 3

Will had gone from surprised to a little pissed off when I refused his offer to hang out but also refused to tell him why. How was I supposed to explain what exactly I am doing right now? A large brick building is looming above me.  _ 'Dr. Gaius’s Office'  _ is engraved on a plaque nailed to the front door. I take in a deep breath before knocking on the door. It's a public building, so I'm sure that I could just walk in, but I feel like I need to ask permission. That is how imposing this place is.

About a minute goes by before the door opens. A lady with greying hair and a friendly face appears in the doorway and smiles at me. "Ah, you must be Merlin. I'm Alice, Dr. Gaius’s assistant." She opens the door wider and steps back, inviting me in.

I look around the waiting room with curiosity. I'm sure that the room is quite beautiful, but everything tends to be dull in greyscale. There's a currently empty fireplace on the right side of the room, with a wide door to the left. A large desk is situated almost smack in the middle between the two, the wall behind hung with various awards and certificates. There's a set up of plush looking armchairs surrounding the fire place. There's more chairs, these ones much more typical, along the wall beside me to the left, across from the desk.

"We're so glad you could make it. Gaius is quite excited about your situation. This could be a huge breakthrough for his research." I force a smile as I look back at her. "But enough from me. He's expecting you." She gestures to the door and I turn my head to look apprehensively at it. The lady, Alice, moves back behind her desk and sits, proceeding to shuffle through the paperwork spread over the wooden surface. With one last fortifying breath, I make my legs move toward the door. The knob is cool as I touch it, putting me on edge slightly. It twists easily, the door swinging soundlessly inwards as I push.

An older man with grey hair jumps to his feet as I enter. "Mr. Emrys, it's so good to meet you. As you probably know, I am Dr. Gaius, but to make this more comfortable for you, you can drop the title."

"Uhm..." I blink stupidly as I take his extended hand and shake it. "Merlin." I add belatedly. He nods eagerly before letting go and gesturing to two more of the same plush armchairs that are situated 90 degrees to each other in the far corner. He takes a seat as I sink into one of the chairs, revelling for a moment in how soft and truly comfortable it really is. Why can't all doctors offices be like this?

"So, Merlin, you briefly explained what's been happening to you in your e-mail." I nod as he pauses. "Is there any more details you can add? How many times have you had these dreams?" He looks so interested, and I hate to crush it.

"Truth be told, it's only been twice. Last night and the night before." To my surprise he doesn't look disappointed. He merely nods, hands clasped in his lap as he studies me.

"And have you been seeing some colour both days?" He asks. I nod again. Today, instead of Principal Kilgharrah's shoes, it was a girl named Leslie's maroon skirt. He inhales thoughtfully before getting to his feet.

I stay put, merely watching as he goes to his desk and grabs a pen and a pad of paper. "Can I get you anything? Coffee or water, perhaps?" I shake my head. 

"No, I'm okay. Thanks, though." He nods cordially and comes back. Once he's seated, he flips open his notepad and clicks his pen.

"Okay, then let's start with your first dream. Can you walk me through what happened?" He keeps his hand poised over the paper and looks up at me with interest. I close my eyes and screw my face up in concentration.

"I only have bits and pieces." I pause for a bit as I try to scrape together as many details as I can. "I remember that I seemed to wake up, like I had been asleep in my dream. The sky overhead was so bright. I'm assuming it was blue, cause that's what we've always been told. There were a few clouds, but not many. When I sat up, I found myself in a field, surrounded by flowers. There were so many different coloured ones that it was almost overwhelming. The field seemed endless in every direction, but there was a tree in the distance.

"The closer I got, the more I noticed. There was a young boy sitting underneath it in the shade, holding a, uh, a snake, I think. He was very upset. Crying and shaking. He kept repeating,  _ "He's dead."  _ Over and over he said it, until he heard me approaching. When he saw me he got terrified. His hands tightened almost protectively around his dead snake and he demanded to know why I was there. He asked me  _how_ I was there too, which I found odd. And that's when I woke up."

The sound of pen on paper becomes more clear as I open my eyes and return to the present. Dr. Gaius, or just Gaius I suppose, is nodding as his pen furiously flies over his paper. "Okay. And it was at school itself that you first saw colour, yes?" He glances up briefly before flicking his eyes back down to the paper.

"Yeah. I was in the hallway near my locker and I saw the colour of my principal's shoes." I almost comment on how ugly they were, but I manage to refrain.

"And it was just the once?" When I nod, he hums. "What was your second dream last night?"

I inhale sharply. "This one was... much darker. I was standing across the street from a cemetery. The same boy from before was kneeling next to a gravestone. It was different from the rest though. I don't really know why. Maybe because there was no fresh mound of dirt or flowers or anything. His snake was laid out before the stone and the grass all around them was dead. Hovering over him was an... not quite an Angel. It had wings, but it's face kept flickering between normal and... I guess evil is the only way to describe it. It had snakelike qualities. One of its hands was on the boy's shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice it. Then there was a flash of bright white light and the boy looked up and saw me and again asked,  _ "How are you here? Who are you?"  _ Then the being looked at me, and I swear this thing looked right into my soul and... it nodded at me. Smiled and nodded."

Gaius hums and nods again, still scribbling almost frantically in his notebook. "You only saw colour once again today?" He prompts.

"Yeah. This time in the afternoon instead of the morning." I don't bother to add that it wasn't the same thing as before because that's normal. There is silence in the room as Gaius looks over his notes.

"So, as you probably already know, when someone loses their soulmate, that's it. They don't get another. However, I have a theory that if someone loses their soulmate due to something not planned by God or the Universe, whatever you believe in, they  _could_ be given a new one." I stare across at him blankly, not really sure what he's getting at exactly.

He chuckles at my incomprehension. "I'm talking about suicide, Merlin." My eyes widen. Of course I know what suicide is, but it's all but unheard of. It hasn't happened in my lifetime, or that of my parents, not that I know of anyway. "You see, when someone chooses to take their own life it disrupts the whole existence of everything around them. It's unnatural and goes against nature to the very core. Basically, the universe didn't choose it to happen so it has to, for lack of a better word, fix the consequences left behind." I let his words sink in.

"So you think someone committed... took their own life and now everything around them, either directly or indirectly, is being pushed and pulled to fix the timeline?" Gaius nods, a weird look of excitement taking over his features.

"Precisely!" My mind is reeling as I slowly make sense of everything.

"And what about the dreams? Why am I dreaming in colour?" His eyes spark with intrigue.

"I believe that whoever is your soulmate had already met his, therefore he could see in colour, along with his partner. When they unnaturally took their own life, it was switched to you. Not their consciousness, per se, because you are still you. Your personality hasn't changed. It's more the fact that they now saw in colour was passed on to you. For some reason, it was only passed into your dreams. I can only assume it's because you haven't come into direct contact with your new soulmate since the switch."

I freeze at his words. "My  _new_ soulmate? What happened to my original one then?" Gaius lifts his hands up in a shrug.

"Who knows? It's anyone's guess how big the ripple effect of this really is." I close my eyes, bringing my hands up to rub my temples in a desperate attempt to ward off my headache.

"So, the boy in my dreams... that's my new soulmate? And the snake, and I guess the weird spirit, are his old soulmate?" The doctor nods.

"I think that it's safe to assume that." I feel a shiver run up and down my spine.

"Wow." Silence once again takes over the room. I appreciate Gaius letting me take everything in, in silence. This is hands down the craziest thing that I have ever heard. If I wasn't currently experiencing it, I wouldn't even believe it. Which raises the question, how do I tell my parents everything that is happening right now? They'll call me crazy. Hell, maybe I am.

"What do you think the significance is of him asking me how and why I'm there?" I now ask. Gaius nods and rubs his chin.

"Now that is the interesting and confusing part. Maybe he, too, is having dreams that feature you. In a way, soulmates are connected in almost every way. He obviously knows that he lost his soulmate. As soon as they're gone you lose the colour and go back to greyscale. Perhaps he is somehow sharing dreams with you now that you are his new soulmate. You have met each other already. You mentioned that you already knew everyone at your school." I nod to show him that he is correct on that. It's not a huge school, and I have, in fact, directly met everyone in it in at least some way.

"That must be why you are dreaming in colour. The universe knows that you've previously met." He nods, like this is all making sense to him. If it is, then he is doing far better than me, and I'm the one going through it.

"So, we're having the same dream, and the real him, or his consciousness anyway, is asking how I'm in his head? Like he knows that normally I wouldn't be there?" Gaius nods, a very large grin taking over his face.

"And there is a very good chance that the ages are swapped. In your dreams you are as you are now and he is a small boy. In his dream, he could very well be his current age and  _you_ could be the young boy." Man, just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder.

We're interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in!" Gaius calls. Alice opens the door and peeks her head in.

"Hi. Sorry to interrupt something so important, but it is closing time." My eyes widen in surprise and I pull out my phone to check the time. Sure enough, it is actually 5:30. There's a new text from my Mom asking where I am. I had silenced my phone when I first got here, so I must have missed it.

"Oh, goodness. Time really does fly. Head home, Alice. I can close up." Alice nods and retreats from the room. Once she's gone, Gaius turns to me. "I will let you go now. Hopefully I have helped somewhat. I would like to continue these sessions to really figure out what exactly has happened, if that's okay?" I nod, making him grin like an excited five year old just given his dream toy. We both get to our feet and he walks me to the door.

"Perfect. Thank you once again." As I leave the building, I notice that the bricks are what I learned are red, and across the street is someone vaguely familiar walking away from me.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time I kick my body into motion, the boy is already turning the corner away from me. Breaking into a run, I cross the street and sprint down the sidewalk. I slow down to a jog when I get to the corner, but it's too late. He's somehow gone. Completely and totally gone. Still, I slowly make my way down the sidewalk, looking back and forth to see if I can see him anywhere. Nothing. It's like he vanished into thin air. I groan in frustration, running my fingers through my hair as I uselessly scan through the various shades of grey.

As I'm turning, I see a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, and when I whip my head around I see a young girl bouncing a basketball off an alley wall. The ball is vibrantly orange. Craning my head around, I try to find the guy from mere moments earlier, but he's nowhere in sight. With a sigh of defeat, I turn and make my way back the way I came from. As I go, I can't seem to shake the feeling of eyes burning into my back.

Once back at my car, I get in and turn it on. With my head full, and now my heart heavy, I pull away from the curb and make my way down the street. I just so happen to have to turn down the street from before. I slow down just slightly, so as not to come across as creepy, but I still see nothing. I do notice, however, that the car out front of an apartment building is an emerald green, like the grass from my dream.

My thoughts shift back to everything I learned this afternoon as I go. If what Gaius is saying is true, then this must be very hard for whoever my soulmate is. He's been told his whole life that he only gets one soulmate, and suddenly he's been given another. I don't blame him for running.

Much too soon, I pull up outside the house. The front door opens as I climb out of the car, my Mom's highly unimpressed face watching me as I slowly make my way up the front walkway.

"Where have you been? Why were you ignoring me?" She demands once she deems me close enough. I grimace as I try to figure out a way to explain everything to her. To both of my parents. "Well?" She adds sternly when I've made it to the front door and I still haven't answered.

"That's, uh, it's complicated." I tell her, wincing as she settles  _the look_ on my figure as I pass by her and into the house.

"Were you with a girl?" She asks. "Or a boy... either?" She adds on, bringing a soft smile to my face. I love how accepting of me that my parents are. I've heard horror stories about men getting paired with other men for soulmates and  _still_ getting disowned by their family. As if they  _really_ have a choice. Assholes. "Were you?" She asks, sounding excited as she catches sight of my smile.

"No, Mom. I wasn't. Sorry." Her smile falls.

"Then where were you?" She asks, hands now on her hips. I settle my gaze on her and sigh.

"I was at the doctor. Before you freak out, I'm fine. It's a long story and I don't really know how to explain it. I don't even really fully understand it myself." She narrows her eyes as she studies me.

"Fine." She sighs, throwing her hand up in surrender. "Anyway, you're father and I ate already. I have leftovers in the fridge for you that I'll heat up." I smile gratefully at her, one she returns before she turns and walks away. I feel guilty as I watch her retreating back. I need to find at least  some  way to fill her in on what's going on. I know how worried she is, even if she's not showing it. With one last frustrated sigh, I follow my Mother into the kitchen.

She's just putting a plate full of mashed potatoes and what looks like chicken and corn into the microwave. She glances at me briefly before turning back and starting to wipe down the already spotless counter.

"Mom." I sigh. "It's not that I  don't want to tell you what's going on. It's more just that I don't know how." She turns to me, just as the microwave beeps. She looks torn before finally moving to the side and grabbing my food out for me.

"Here." She says, bringing it to the counter island we have. We both sit on the bar stools.

"Thanks." We sit in silence as I eat, but it's not a very comfortable one. I shift restlessly as I slowly clear my plate. Once I'm done we both stay put where we are.

"Merlin," my Mom finally starts, "you know that nothing you tell me is going to change anything. You're my son, my only child, and I love you more than anything. I just want to make sure that you're okay." I look beside me and meet her gaze.

"I know, Mom." She looks at me desperately. I sigh softly and rest my elbows on the counter and lean my head on my hands. "I guess I'd have to start from the beginning." I say, voice shaking slightly. My mom shifts in her seat so she's facing me, hand coming to rest comfortingly on my arm.

"Take your time." She offers quietly. I take a moment to sort through my scrambled thoughts.

"Okay. Two nights ago, I had a dream. But it wasn't like anything I've ever had before." I sit back now so I can see her face. She looks confused. "I had a dream in colour." She looks surprised.

"I thought you hadn't met your soulmate yet." She says slowly. I shrug helplessly.

"I haven't." She studies me for a moment before gesturing me to continue. "So that was the night before yesterday. That's why I asked about my shirt." She nods in understanding. "That day at school, I saw colour. Despite having met everyone in my school at least once. It was only the once in the morning and then nothing. When I got home, I looked online and found this doctor's website. A Dr. Gaius. He has a theory about what's happening to me. That's where I was today. We met after school at his office and I explained both of my dreams and the two times I've seen colour at school." I don't add on the part about after I had left Gaius’s office. I'm still a little shaken up, to be brutally honest.

"So, you've had  two  colour dreams and seen colour while awake?" She asks slowly. I nod. "And what did this Dr. Gaius have to say?" She asks, almost a little hesitant.

"This is where it gets a little complicated." I warn her. She seems to steel herself and nods for me to continue. "Okay, so obviously you know about how when someone loses their soulmate then that's it." She nods. "So, Dr. Gaius has a theory that the boy in my dreams had met his soulmate already, but that he lost him in an unnatural way, so now the universe is trying to balance everything out and get it all back to the way it's supposed to be."

She looks confused. "What do you mean  unnatural ?" She asks. I meet her eyes with a sad expression.

"Suicide, Mom. He believes that my new soulmate lost his due to suicide." She gasps softly, tears springing into her eyes as she brings a hand up to cover her mouth.

"That's terrible." She whispers. Lifting a hand, I rub her shoulder gently. "So where do you come in?" She finally manages to get out, voice still evidently thick with emotion.

"He believes that because this boy lost his soulmate like that, that it got switched. To me. So my original soulmate has a new one, and so on. Because the two of them had already met, and me and my new soulmate have already met previously, my dreams are in colour. There's a young boy in my dreams, and we both think that it's my soulmate, but for whatever reason he is appearing younger. From the way he's acting and talking, Gaius thinks that he is having the same dream as I am, but from his perspective instead, and seeing me. We're assuming that he's seeing me as a young boy as well."

When I finished there's a heavy silence filling the room. Footsteps behind us make me jump. Twisting around, I face the doorway and see my Dad walking in. I open my mouth but he holds up his hand to cut me off.

"You don't need to explain again. I was passing by when I heard your conversation so I stopped to listen in. I didn't want to interrupt so I stayed where I was." I nod, thankful that I don't have to go over it all again. Despite passing on everything to my parents, I still don't  _really_ understand how it's even possible. "That's a lot to take in." He adds, sinking down onto the bar stool on my other side.

The three of us sit in silent thought for a minute or two. "I know it's a lot." I say quietly. "I don't really understand it. I don't know how it could be possible. Maybe we're wrong about the why, but that doesn't change the fact that  _something_ is happening to me. Something unheard of. And to be honest, it's a little terrifying. If what Gaius said is true, and this all started because one person decided to... to kill themselves... I had no idea that one person's actions could have such a huge effect on absolutely everything around them."

My Dad slings his arm around my shoulders. "I know it's scary, Son. The unknown always is, but you have your Mother and I here for you. We're going to be by your side through every step of this journey. Are you going to be meeting this Dr. Gaius again?" I nod my head as I chew on my lower lip in uncertainty.

"Yeah. I'm not sure when, but he wants to follow along through whatever this is so he can document it and present his research, I'm assuming. Isn't that what doctors do? Create theories and share them with the world?" My parents both nod.

"Some do." My Mom says, still rubbing my arm soothingly.

"Would you be willing to let us tag along the next time you go see him? I know this is difficult to really understand, so maybe he can walk us through everything with more certainty." I meet my Dad's eyes and nod.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be fine." He smiles slightly and squeezes his arm around my shoulders.

"Okay." His voice is soft and reassuring. "I'm sure it's been a long day for you, so why don't you go unwind. Your Mother and I will be down here if you need anything." I smile gratefully and push my chair back. Grabbing my empty dishes, I take them to the dishwasher and put them in, doing my best not to bash them against the others already inside. My mom  _hates_ it when I do that.

My parents soft, murmuring voices follow me out of the room, but get cut off once I start ascending the stairs. Entering my room, I sigh in relief. My Dad was right. It  has  been a long day. Once my door is closed behind me, I go to my desk and grab my tablet before continuing on to my bed. I sink down onto the soft mattress as I press the power button. As it turns on, I snuggle under my blankets. Pulling out my phone, I send Will a quick message.

_**To: Will, 7:01 PM**   
Hey, man. Sorry about earlier. I had some stuff to deal with. Anyways, I told my parents everything that's going on. _

As I pull up Netflix on my tablet, I get a new text message on my phone. I glance at the screen to see Will’s name. Good. At least he isn't  _too_ mad at me for earlier today.

_**From: Will, 7:04 PM**  
No worries, dude. Glad you finally decided to fill them in._

I start an old episode of Supernatural on my tablet as I go to reply to Will. We text back and forth for a while before I slowly feel myself starting to fall asleep. I close out of Netflix and set both my tablet and my phone onto my bedside table. Stifling a yawn, I sink further under the covers, not even caring that I'm still in my clothes from the day. As I close my eyes, I see that guy walking away from me.

_'_ _Who are you?'_ I think to myself as I fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

It's been a week, and I'm not any closer to any real and solid answers than I was before. I've continued having my colour dreams, but I haven't seen any colour at school again. My best guess is whoever my soulmate it got spooked. Maybe he got a better look at me outside Gaius’s office and is now doing his best to stay away. Whatever the reason, I am no closer to really finding out what is happening, and it's driving me mad.

I haven't been back to see Gaius in person, as I have no news to bring. We have exchanged a few short emails, and I think my parents phoned him at some point, but that's about it. In a way, I kinda feel bad. He got so excited about this new event that could turn his theory into reality, and we've hit a wall. I know that it's up to me. I have to figure out who it is and make contact and ask questions, but that's easier said than done. Especially when they clearly don't want to be found. Not by me, at least.

I'm snapped back to reality when my character on the screen gets gunned down my Will’s. "Oh, come on, man!" He cries in exasperation. We've been playing video games at his place for the last hour and half, and he's won every round with no trouble whatsoever. At first, he was excited. Usually I'm the one winning everything, but clearly the thrill wore off quite a while ago. "It's like you're not even trying!" He complains, throwing a piece of popcorn at my head. I swat it off my shoulder before shooting my best friend an apologetic look.

"Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind lately." Will pauses the game and looks over at me. 

"Still having the same dreams?" I've filled him in on what happens in my dreams. I even described the boy I keep seeing in them. I was hoping that he'd recognize the description, but unfortunately he doesn't. Apparently nothing in my life can be that easy. I nod my head in answer to his question, eyes unfocused as I stare blankly at a patch of wall just over his right shoulder. I jump about a foot as he waves his hand in front of my face. He quickly stifles a laugh, but I see the amusement in his eyes as I shoot him a faux glare.

"What about at school? Seeing any more colour there?" I frown slightly as I shake my head  _ 'no' _ . 

"It's weird." I reply. "Don't most people go to school every day? How could I go a week without being close to this guy at least once?" Will shrugs, looking just as confused. We lapse into silence for a few minutes, the both of us just completely lost in thought. If it wasn't for the colour dreams, I'd almost think that everything had simply gone back to normal. Like I had dreamed or imagined the whole thing. But I know it's real. And I know that whoever the boy in my dreams is, knows it's real too. Why he's running away instead of trying to find answers himself? I have no idea. Maybe he really  _did_ love his old soulmate and is having a hard time accepting the fact that he suddenly has a new one.

"What does he look like again?" Will’s voice breaks into my thoughts. I close my eyes and focus on the young boy in my dreams. 

"In my dreams, I'd say he looks about eight. Maybe nine? He has blond hair. Not too short, but not too long either. It kinda curls slightly at the ends. He's always just a little too far away, but I'd say he has maybe blue-grey eyes. But who knows. They could be any colour." When I open my eyes again, Will looks thoughtful. I wait in silence as he thinks over the description.  _ Again _ . At last, he looks me in the eyes, but he looks just as lost as before. 

"I don't know. I wish I could help you, I really do, but I can't think of anyone specific at school who matches that vague description exactly." Despite me trying not to get my hopes up, I still feel disappointed. I'm also frustrated. I know that this is hard, but if my mystery soulmate knows who I am, or at least knows enough to be able to avoid me, then why can't he just step forward? Can't he see how much this is killing me? It's just not fair. Or maybe it's not fair for me to feel like this. The whole situation is screwed up and confusing, and I really just wish that my life had stayed simple. I don't want to be someone's science fair project. I just want to finish high school, get a good job, settle down with my soulmate, maybe even start a family. And who knows, maybe I could've had that with my original soulmate. Not any more, probably.

"Hey." Will’s hand on my shoulder once again brings me back to reality. I blink a few times before totally focusing on his face. "We're gonna figure this out, and then everything is gonna he okay." I try to smile at his reassuring words, but I think it comes across as more of a grimace. Whatever my facial expression is, Will gives me a sad smile. "This is really eating you up, isn't it?" I make a  _ 'pfft' _ sound and shake my head. Unfortunately, when you've known someone as long as Will and I have, it's not very easy to get away with a lie. By the look on my best friend's face right now, I clearly did not do a good job.

I'm not usually one to get super gushy and spew my feelings everywhere, but everyone needs to vent and let it all out sometimes, right? "Honestly? It is. It really, really is. I get that this is all new, and scary, and basically impossible, but I feel like he's not seeing my side. I've been affected too. Maybe not as much as he has been, but my life has changed too. My whole future is going to be different now. If too many people, or the wrong people, hear about this I'll be labeled as a freak. I'll be an outcast, and that's terrifying. But most of all, I think, is that I feel unwanted. He has to have at least some idea of who I am to him now and instead of coming forward, he's avoiding me. He's avoiding the situation. He's been given a second chance and he doesn't want it."

I pause to take a deep breath and I'm surprised to feel tears in my eyes. My vision is blurry as I look up and meet Will’s gaze. "My own soulmate doesn't want me. What am I supposed to do now?" My voice comes out weaker than I had expected. I bite down on my lower lip harshly as it trembles slightly. Feeling ashamed and more than a little embarrassed, I turn my head away, dropping my eyes to the spot of black hair dye we got on his bedroom carpet from when we went through our "emo" phase a good five years ago.

A tense silence fills the room, making me feel even more embarrassed about my outburst. When I look up, though, Will doesn't look uncomfortable or tense at all. He's looking at me, studying me, and at first I think it's pity, but that's not it. I'm not even sure how to read his current facial expression. He opens and closes his mouth a few times before finally just scooting closer and pulling me into a hug. Surprisingly, I readily accept it, letting out a long, shaky breath as I wrap my arms around his waist. 

We stay there for a moment, in silence, before I hear him inhale softly. "For what it's worth, he's missing out on a kick ass human being." He says quietly. I choke out a laugh, still feeling mildly embarrassed over my mini emotional meltdown. 

"Thanks." I finally manage to get out. When we pull away, I have obvious tears in my eyes. 

"Merlin, mate, we're gonna find your soulmate, and we're gonna get everything sorted out. I don't think it's that he doesn't want you. I think he's just heartbroken, and confused, and scared. Like you said, the impossible is currently happening. That's enough to make even the strongest of people try to run and hide. And when we  do  find him, he's going to learn just how wrong he was to push you away at first." I actually manage a real smile at that. How did I get lucky enough to have such an awesome best friend? I honestly wouldn't have survived this long in high school, around all those fake people, without him.

"Thanks, Will. You really are the best." He shoots me a cheeky grin. 

"I know." He says, somehow managing to not laugh before the two words are out. I roll my eyes, but before I can reply, my phone buzzes in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see a new text from my mom.

_**From: Mom, 5:50 PM**  
Dinner will be ready at 6:30. Will you be home by then?_

Will reads the text over my shoulder. "Is it really that late?" He asks, pulling out his own phone to double check the time. "Shit. I was supposed to have the dishes done and the table set by the time my parents got home. Which is in fifteen minutes!" He jumps up and scrambles to turn the T.V. and Xbox 360 off. "I know you're gonna offer to help, but don't worry about it. I'll text you later!"

He rushes out the door, leaving me to gather up my things and leave his room alone, albeit much slower than he did. I call out a goodbye as I reach the front door and slip my shoes on. I hear a muffled reply, making me chuckle as I pull open the front door and step outside. The air is a little chilly, so I zip my hoodie up all the way before making my way down to the sidewalk and to my car. Just as I get to the drivers side door, my entire car flashes burgundy. My head snaps up and I look frantically in all directions.

I notice somebody speed walking away, shoulders hunched up by their ears and their head down. I almost call out to them, but change my mind. Instead, I break into a jog and go after them. It might end up being a little weird and creepy if this  _ isn't  _ who I think it is, but I am just desperate enough to risk it.

As I get closer, several trees in the yards to my left turn a rich green and brown. Two colours at once is a good sign. However, the guy in front of me suddenly breaks into a sprint. I'm taken by surprise, and by the time I speed up, he's already turning the corner down an alley.

I skid around the corner and am met with nothing. Nothing but a couple of large dumpsters. Slowing down to a fast walk, I continue down the small space, pretty much frantically looking around. Just when I think that he's managed to vanish into thin air again, he pops up from the other side of a bright blue dumpster and starts running again. This time, I  _ do  _ yell.

"Hey!" My voice bounces back and forth between the building walls. He looks over his shoulder briefly, and that's all I need. As he looks back forward, he trips over a rather deep pothole and tumbles to the asphalt. I wince as he goes down, but he manages to roll out of it and onto his knees. Before he can get up and keep going, I bolt forward and practically tumble to the ground in front of him. As I reach out and grab onto his wrist, everything bursts into colour.

I watch with wide eyes as he looks up from my hand and meets my gaze. "Arthur?" I ask, startled. Staring back at me is Arthur Pendragon, the rich, never-really-talks-to-anyone-else guy from school. He struggles his wrist free from my grasp and scurries backwards away from me.

"I don't know what's going on, but just leave me alone, Merlin!" He cries before scrambling to his feet and racing down the rest of the alley, once again turning the corner and out of view.

_'_ _ Well, at least I know who my soulmate is now.' _


	6. Chapter 6

I somehow manage to keep this new development to myself until the next day. I do feel bad about not filling my parents in on what's happened, but I'm still processing it myself. To say that I'm a bad liar is the understatement of the year, so as soon as I got home I locked myself in my room and didn't come out all evening. This morning I waited until my Dad had left for work and my Mom had left for her part-time job helping out at a nearby pre-school. Unfortunately, this did mean that I was late for school. Again.

Will is waiting for me by our usual side door. "Dude, where have you been?" He whisper-yells. I open my mouth to reply but he waves me off. "Never mind. You can't go in there right now. Kilgharrah is on a total rampage right now and if he sees that you're late again I think he might actually kill you and dispose of your body in the Chem lab." Normally, I'd think that he was over-exaggerating, but that  _ does _ sound eerily like something Kilgharrah would do. I turn on my heel and follow after Will as we stealthily make our way to the football field bleachers.

"So why are you late anyway?" He asks as we slip under them and out of view. I shrug non-committedly.

"Avoiding my parents." Will lifts his eyebrows in surprise. He knows how close we all are. I very rarely have anything bad to say about them, or to complain about, so I can see why me avoiding them could come as a bit of a shock.

"Why? Did you guys  _ finally  _ have a fight like most normal teens and their parents?" I shove him playfully, mocking a fake laugh. I let a few moments go by before I somber up.

"No. I was avoiding them because I'm such an awful liar, and I just wasn't ready to talk yet." I confess hesitantly. Will looks curious as he leans back against one of the broad support beams.

"Talk about what?" He finally asks when I make no obvious move to explain. I look him over before taking a deep breath. Unfortunately, it doesn't help to settle my fast paced heart rate.

"Your shirt is a pale yellow and your jeans are dark wash. Almost black, but not quite. You have blue eyes, which I already knew but still kinda surprised me. I guess I just never believed your parents. The grass down here is still green, but more of a muted green than the stuff out there in the sunlight. And these bleachers are an awful combination of beige and brown."

As I finish talking, Will’s mouth falls open in shock. "When did you meet him? How? I thought he was doing his best to avoid you? Who is it?" He rapid fires the questions at me, which I really should not be surprised about. I start picking at the half dead grass as I formulate my response.

"I met him yesterday, right after I left your place. It was all just good luck, I suppose. Right place, right time kinda thing. I chased him down and actually managed to catch him this time." Will’s eyes are still open almost comically wide. 

"So, who is it?" He asks, voice filled with intrigue and interest. I finally look up and meet his eyes properly.

"Arthur Pendragon." There's silence between us, and it's almost like I can hear my voice repeating those two words over and over and over.

"Arthur?" He finally splutters. "As in rich, posh, never says two words in class because he feels like he’s above everyone else, Arthur?" I half smile at his description, cause it really  _ is _ true, before nodding my head slowly. "Holy shit. I did not peg him as your type." I chuckle and throw a small handful of grass across the short distance between us. "So what happened?"

I wince as I think back to the events in the alley from yesterday. "He, uh... he told me that he didn't know what was going on and to leave him alone." The words still sting, even when they're not coming from his mouth. Will frowns, and I'm suddenly filled with this feeling of regret. I know that look, and it never bodes well for anyone.

"That little shit!" He cries, face growing more cloudy by the second. "Who does he think he is?! I'm gonna go find him and shake some sense into him! The nerve of that bastard!" I scramble to my feet as he does, and latch my hand around his arm.

"Please don't, Will! It'll only make things worse. Just let me handle this! Everything that's happened to him has got to be so overwhelming. He needs time to adjust. He only just lost his soulmate." Thankfully, Will does as I ask and stays put, but he looks just as pissed.

"He may have just lost his soulmate, but he's been given the impossible! Why wreck his second chance at a happily ever after? Why wreck  _ your _ chance at a happily every after?" I shrug helplessly and tug on his arm as I sink back down onto the ground. He follows my lead, landing on the hard packed ground with a huff.

"Look, we don't understand where's he coming from. We haven't heard his side of everything, so let's just spare the harsh words, okay?" I plead. Will locks his jaw, but nods none-the-less. "Okay. Good. Thank you."

We once again slip into silence, but it feels uneasy. There is a definite spark of frustration and tension in the air, and it's making my hair almost stand on end. Like it's electric.

"So what are you gonna do?" Will finally breaks the silence. I chew on my lower lip in uncertainty.

"I don't really know, honestly. Try and talk to him, I guess. Which could prove difficult if he wants nothing to do with me. And now I won't even know when he's nearby because everything is in colour." Will nods along before he suddenly stops, eyes wide.

"Maybe there is a way!" The excitement in his voice confuses me. We've only ever really learned about soulmates up until we meet them. Once the full colour hits, we stopped learning.

"What do you mean?" I ask. He rubs his hands energetically over his thighs.

"We've never really been told what happens after we meet our soulmates and everything turns colour, right?" I nod my head, because obviously I know this. "Well," he continues, "I was always curious so I asked my parents about it one day. God, that must've been five or six years ago." He pauses, probably for dramatic effect.

"And?" I prompt. His eyes shine with barely concealed excitement.

"My Mom said that after her and my Dad met, she could always tell when he was near. It was like there was a buzzing in her veins. The older they got, and the longer they were together, that effect lessened, until now when it's barely there. But it that's true for everyone, then that's your ticket on how to find Arthur!" Will’s excitement seems to be contagious, because a large grin has broken out across my face.

"That's brilliant!" I reply, hope filling my chest for once since this whole thing started. "Now that I have a way to find him, I just have to figure out what to say." Will nods, giving me a now very much sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, that's all on you, man. As far as romance and the soulmate thing go, I'm at an utter loss." I can't help but laugh as he grimaces.

"It'll be your turn soon enough." He shrugs uninterestedly in reply.

"I didn't even know that Arthur  _ had  _ met his soulmate already. I didn't think anyone in our school had, to be honest." I nod along. I hadn't either. We weren't lying when we said that Arthur Pendragon really keeps to himself. "I can't even imagine what he's feeling right now, or how to go about explaining what's happening to him. I definitely don't envy you on that one." I huff a laugh out through my nose as I lay back on the ground, hands behind my head. Closing my eyes, I ponder what to say to Arthur when I  _ do  _ finally find him again. That's when Will’s words really sink in.

"That's it!" I exclaim, sitting bolt upright. Will, who had been in the middle of rambling away, as usual, jumps about a foot before settling his best bitch face on me.

"What's  _ it _ ?" He grumbles. I jump to my feet excitedly.

"I don't have to explain anything! I just have to convince him to come to Dr. Gaius’s Office and  _ he  _ can explain it all! He'll do a far better job than I will." With that, I turn and start speed walking back the way we came.

"Where are you going?" Will calls after me.

"I have an elusive soulmate to find!" I call back. I blink rapidly as I step out into the sunshine. Making sure to double check for any teachers, I jog for the school. I slow down as I get closer to the side door, checking in through the window to see if the coast is clear. I look behind me again, just to really cover my ass, before pulling open the door and tip-toeing inside. I turn to close the door quietly behind myself, and that's when I feel it. It's like the blood running through my veins is on fire.

I let the latch click slowly before turning around. Just as I expected, or at least hoped, Arthur Pendragon is standing there, just inside the second set of doors leading to the hallway. I take a deep breath, but stay where I am. I don't want to spook him and have him run off again. His wide eyes finally meet my pleading ones. He takes a step back, closer to the door, and my heart rate spikes.

"Arthur, please, hear me out." I beg, lifting a hand as I take a step forward involuntarily. He stays put, for now anyway. "Look, I know this is all strange and scary, but I want to help. Whether you like it or not, we're connected now. There's no going back or changing that. I know someone who can better explain all this to you, you just have to trust me and come with me." Even from where I am, I can see tears forming in the boy's rich, blue eyes.

"I don't understand what's happening." He chokes out. I take another step closer. 

"I don't really either, but like I said, I know someone who can help you. Help  _ both _ of us." Arthur chews on his lower lip as he thinks it over. My heart is pounding as I wait on pins and needles for his answer. Finally, he slowly nods his head. I breathe out a sigh of relief. Pulling out my phone, I thumb it open and pull up my contacts. Swiping through, I tap on Gaius’s name, bringing the device up to my ear as it rings.

_"Hello?"_

Arthur is slowly walking closer, making my skin feel like it's on fire. "Uh, hey. It's me. Merlin." I finally say into my phone.

_"Ah, Merlin. How can I help you?"_

I meet Arthur’s hesitant eyes as I reply. "Are you free, like, right now? I have someone I want you to meet." I hear a sharp inhale over the line.

_"Yes. Yes, of course! Bring him over immediately! He must be terribly confused. I shall clear my schedule. See you in a few."_

The line goes dead, so I hang up on my end. "Are you ready to get some answers?" I ask softly to the boy now next to me. He looks back at me with scared eyes, but nods all the same. "Okay. Let's go." We leave the building much less carefully than I entered it and make our way back to my car in the student parking lot. I open the passenger door for him before going around to my side.

_'_ _Answers, here we come.'_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please refer to work tags before reading this chapter!!

By the time we pull up outside of Dr. Gaius’s office, Arthur is hyperventilating. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Everything is going to be fine!" I try to reassure. I go to place my hand on his shoulder but he flinches away. Frantically, he shakes his head. "Arthur, look at me." I keep my voice low but firm, gently demanding that he do as I ask. Hesitantly, he lifts terrified eyes and locks them with mine. Now that I have his attention, I slowly lift both hands and gently cup them around his face. He closes his eyes and minutely relaxes into my touch.

"I know that you're confused and scared and just want things to go back to the way they were, but they can't. You can't go back and change the past. What you can do, though, is figure out what is happening, or understand it as best as we can, and move forward." Arthur opens his eyes and searches mine for a minute or two before nodding slightly against my hands. "Okay." I breathe. We stay put for a moment, just looking at each other, before I shake myself mentally and pull away. "Okay." I repeat, a little louder this time.

With a deep breath, I get out of the car and lock the door before closing it. It ends up slamming closed due to the excess of nervous energy surging through my body. When I get to the sidewalk, I notice that Arthur is still in the car. He jumps as I open the car door. Crouching down, I look up at him. I'm startled to see silent tears streaming down his cheeks. I open my mouth to say something, but I close it just as quickly when I realize that I have no fucking idea what to say. Instead, I settle for reaching out and taking his hand in mine. This pulls his attention back to me. I give him a soft smile and he gives me a sad one back. With a weak squeeze he lets go and unbuckles.

As soon as he's out of the car, his hand finds mine again. To my surprise, my heart flutters slightly, but I push it aside as we make our way up the steps to the red brick building. "It's going to be okay." I say one more time before reaching out and twisting the doorknob. The door pushes open silently, admitting us into the semi-familiar waiting room. Alice looks up and gives us a dazzling grin.

"Ah, Merlin! It's so good to see you again!" She gracefully gets up and rounds her desk. As she gets closer, she holds out her hand for me to shake. I notice that Arthur’s grip on my hand has tightened substantially. He hides behind me slightly as Alice turns her attention to him.

She turns concerned eyes to me, and I offer a sad smile. "This is Arthur." I introduce for him. Her eyes shift back to him and she smiles softly.

"It's so good to meet you, Arthur. I'm hoping that Gaius and I are able to make this all easier for you." Twisting my head, I look at Arthur the best I can and find him nodding hesitantly back. "You can go right in. He's expecting you." She says softly, gesturing to the same door as before.

"Thanks." I smile gratefully and turn to lead Arthur cross the room. When we get there, Arthur stops and tugs on my hand. Looking back, I see him starting to breathe heavily again. Once he sees that I've turned back, he shakes his head.

"I... I can't do this." He whispers, voice strained and panicky. I step closer and wrap my arms around him tightly. He stiffens for a moment before quickly relaxing into me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck and I can feel his fast breaths against my skin.

"Shhh." I soothe as I start to run my right hand up and down his back. "You've been so strong, and I know it's hard, but I need you to be strong for just a little bit longer. Okay? Can you do that for me?" I wait on pins and needles for his answer. I relax slightly as I feel him nod against my shoulder. Pulling back, I smile at him. He struggles to return it, making me huff out a gentle laugh. "You ready?" When he nods, I turn back to the door and open it.

Gaius jumps to his feet and rushes forward as soon as we step into the room. "You made it! Good, good! Come in, sit down. Can I get you anything?" He rambles.

I look at Arthur, who shakes his head, and reply, "No, we're good, thanks." We all take a seat in the plush armchairs from before. I notice that he's brought in a third from the waiting room. Arthur takes the one closer to me, shifting in it so he's as close to me as he can get.

Clearing my throat, I gesture to the boy beside me. "Gaius, this is Arthur." My attention now drifts to the latter. "Arthur, this is Dr. Gaius, but he just goes by Gaius. He's been helping me since everything happened. He'll be able to explain his theory about why this happened a lot better than I'd be able to." Arthur looks at Gaius warily, but still reaches out and shakes his hand feebly.

"So, I will explain as best I can, but first, it'll help to hear your side of the story. From the very beginning." Arthur looks uncomfortable as he shifts a little bit in his chair. Pleading eyes flick to me briefly and I open my mouth, about to ask if we can do this later, but I'm cut off by a soft,

"Okay." I turn surprised eyes his way. He looks determined. Terrified, but determined. Arthur takes a deep, shaky breath and lets it go before dropping his eyes to his lap as he fiddles idly with his fingers. "I've never really gotten along well with my parents. I don't know why, but it means that I spend a lot of time at the park near my house. I always bring my iPod and headphones and keep my head down so no one tries to talk to me. I didn't even get the chance to slowly see colour. It was just one moment I'm fighting back tears, and the next a boy sits beside me and asks if I'm okay, and everything just bursts into colour. I think he was as surprised as I was.

"Leon was... he was just amazing. We both agreed that our parents probably wouldn't take a boy soulmate very well, so we kept our relationship a secret. It was easy enough since he was older and out of high school already. However, one day my Mom found out. I don't know how she got into my phone, but she did. She confronted me, and I was terrified. She promised me that she didn't care, that it was alright. That night, we told my father together. He took a little convincing, but he came around in the end. Naturally, after that I wanted to go public, but Leon still didn't. God, we'd fought about it so much. After a solid two weeks, he finally relented. He promised to tell his parents.

"The day he decided to do it, I kept my eyes glued to my phone. I was desperate to text him and see if he was okay. It'd only been about four and a half months, but I already loved him. I mean, isn't that what we're supposed to do? Meet our soulmates and fall in love? Anyway, he finally called and he was sobbing so hard that I couldn't understand a word he was saying. I told him to meet me at the park where we met, then practically sprinted there. It was pouring rain, and there he was, hunched over on our bench and soaking wet.

"As I approached, he finally looked up and he looked terrible. His right eye was black and there were small cuts across his face. He wasn't crying anymore, he just looked hollow and numb. He didn't even move as I sat beside him and pulled him into a hug. I apologized profusely. I never should've pushed him. Just because my parents were okay with a gay son didn't mean that his were going to be. I—I should've listened to him. Let him tell them when he was ready. He never said a word, just sat there and stared emotionlessly at nothing. We sat there for at least an hour before my Mom called and demanded that I come home since I had school the next day.

"My gut told me to stay, but I didn't. God, I should've stayed. As I got up, he grabbed my hand and looked at me with tears in his eyes and just said,  _"I'm sorry. I love you so much."_ I told him that I loved him too, and that I'd text him when I got home. He stood up and kissed me, and shit, it was more powerful than any kiss we'd ever shared. When I got home, I just went up to my room. I was just crawling into bed when I suddenly felt the worst pain of my life. My vision flickered and blurred then just as quickly as the colour entered my life, it disappeared. I later learned that he intentionally stepped out in front of an oncoming, speeding car. He—he killed himself because his parents hated him."

Tears are streaming down my cheeks as he numbly finishes. At some point, I had reached out and grabbed his hand. I give it a firm squeeze and he looks at me. "I was in class when I heard you in the hall talking to Principal Kilgharrah, and the door turned blue. I was terrified and left as soon as the coast was clear. I—I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just so confused. I was  _terrified_ ." I want to say something, anything, but I can't think of a single thing to say that will make him feel better.

Silence fills the room before Gaius takes a deep breath and shatters the stillness. I glance at him before focusing back on the broken boy who got a second chance. I zone out as Gaius explains everything to Arthur, just as he did for me. I study every detail of my soulmate's profile. I study his body language as Gaius lays out his theory before him. My stomach clenches as I see the unshed tears once again welling up in his eyes. All I want to do is reach out and wipe them away, but I can't. I stay where I am, hands tightly holding one of his silently so he can fully take in all this new information.

Every now and then, Arthur will glance at me from the corner of his eye. I know I should look away, feel embarrassed, but I don't. Every time, his cheeks flush a very light shade of pink as his eyes drop momentarily to his lap before refocusing on Gaius. Time seems to stand still, but also fly by at the same time, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. At last, Gaius finishes. Arthur just nods, having all his questions answered. Just like before, Alice knocks on the door. 

"Sir? I'm sorry about interrupting again. It's time to close up for lunch." Gaius nods and tell her to go. As the door clicks shut again, he turns back to us.

"I do believe that I've taken enough of your time." He focuses solely on Arthur now. "I truly am sorry for your loss, and I hope I was able to shed at least the smallest bit of light on what's happened." Arthur smiles slightly and nods.

"Yes, you've been very helpful. Thank you." After another round of hand shakes, and  _'thank you'_ s, and promises to keep on touch, we finally step back outside into the sunshine. Silently, we make our way back down to my car. We both stop outside on the sidewalk.

"So, where do we go from here?" I ask quietly. Arthur inhales through his nose and lets it out through his mouth.

"I think I need some time to just process all this. I'm, uh, I'm gonna walk home, if that's okay?" My heart clenches painfully in my chest, but I nod.

"Yeah, sure." I watch as he digs his phone out of his pocket and hands it to me.

"Put your number in. I promise I'll text you when I'm ready, I just need a little bit of time." I input my information and hand his phone back. He gives me a sad smile before leaning closer and gently pressing his lips to mine for a brief moment. "I'll text you. I promise." He murmurs before turning and slowly walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is wondering why they kissed already: in this universe, soulmates are hardwired to want to be close to each other emotionally and physically. It’s comforting. In other words, Arthur felt the urge to kiss Merlin, and it felt so natural that he didn’t even think about it.


	8. Chapter 8

It's been a week and a half since Arthur and I went to see Gaius. It's also been a week and a half since I last heard from him. Being at school has been sheer torture. Not only does my skin prickle and fire run in my veins, but the magnetic pull towards him is so strong it's nearly unbearable. Soulmates were made to be together, so being apart is very stressful on the body and the mind. To get my mind off of it, I sat my parents down and told them everything that had happened since our last talk. Naturally, they both said that they wanted to meet Arthur, but I don't think that going to be happening any time soon.

I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my fist around my pencil as my skin suddenly feels like it's on fire. But in a good way, if that's even possible. When I finally open my eyes and look up at the door, I find Arthur standing there, just out of sight from the teacher. We lock eyes and he gestures for me to come out to him. I frown slightly, but nod all the same. He nods back tensely before moving out of view entirely. Getting warily to my feet, I gather my things and make my way up to the teacher. Mr. Rodor looks up as I approach. His brow furrows in confusion as he takes in my packed bag and puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Emrys?" He asks in a bored voice. Jesus, even the teachers are bored and don't want to be here.

"Uhm, yeah, I'm not feeling too good. Is it okay if I head home? I'll get my mom to phone in and excuse me at the office." I hold my breath as I watch Mr. Rodor’s face. Finally, he relents and waves me off.

"Fine. Off you go. I expect all the more effort tomorrow." I don't bother to complain that I can't help it if I'm sick. I don't want to push my luck so I just leave. Arthur is waiting for me outside in the hall. He pushes away from the lockers as I appear in the hallway. I offer him a small smile, trying very hard to ignore the pleasant bubbles building up in my stomach.

"H-hey." He stutters, cheeks turning a fair shade of pink. My stomach twists pleasantly at the sight.

"Hey." I reply, throwing a look over my shoulder quickly to make sure that we're still alone. When I turn back, Arthur is holding out his hand.

"Let's go somewhere to talk." He says quietly as he catches sight of my confused expression. I hesitantly take his hand, skin tingling at the contact, and let him pull me down the hall.

Soon enough, we're stepping out through the usual side door and walking out into the mid-afternoon sunshine. We walk in silence toward the front sidewalk. I notice, however, that he doesn't let go of my hand. I fight back a smile at the thought. Instead, I ask, "So where are we going?" Arthur stays quiet for a moment before looking beside him to meet my eyes.

"I thought we'd go sit in my favourite cafe and just... talk about everything." I actually feel nervous at his words cause I can't tell if they're good or bad. I keep my mouth closed, though. Sometimes it's better to just not know.

We walk hand in hand down the street. Not a word is passed between us. The only noise around us is the birds in the trees. Occasionally, a car will drive by, but for the most part we have the illusion of being completely alone. Perks of living in this neighbourhood, I suppose. Eventually, however, Arthur breaks the silence growing steadily between us.

"I'm sorry I never texted. I had meant to, it just never really felt like the right time. But I suppose there never really  _is_ a right time." I give his hand a reassuring squeeze as his rambling turns increasingly more nervous and anxious.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it. We're here now, and everything is going to get cleared up, right?" Arthur takes a deep breath and nods. Not too much longer and we arrive outside of a small, quiet, and peaceful looking cafe that I didn't even know existed.

"Here we are." Arthur says with a warm feeling of familiarity. He reaches out to pull the door open just as I do, making us both chuckle softly.

"Let me." I tell him, pulling the door open and holding it for him to go through. He gives me a shy smile and ducks his head to hide his flushed cheeks as he steps inside.

The strong, and lovely, smell of coffee and cinnamon buns hits me as I step inside after him. Arthur is already up at the counter, talking quietly with the barista behind the counter. She looks nice. Long, brown hair frames her face, down past her shoulders. Brown eyes sparkle in the warm light as white teeth flash a dazzling smile. If it weren't for the fact that Arthur was already my soulmate, I might actually feel jealous of the way they so easily converse. She looks up at me as I slowly venture closer. I just catch sight of her name tag before she greets me brightly.

"Hi!" She —Gwen— chirps. "You must be Merlin! It's so good to finally meet you. Arthur here has told me so much about you that it feels like I practically know you already. It's nice to finally put a face to the name, though." She finishes with a very pointed look in a blushing Arthur’s direction. And I mean blushing furiously like a tomato. Which is adorable, by the way.

"Oh, uhm, hi. Yeah, I'm Merlin." I reply, flustered myself over the fact that Arthur has talked about me. I guess it's normal. I mean, I've bored Will to death with conversations about Arthur. Not that I really know him well enough to gush too much about him. Hopefully that'll change after this afternoon.

"Anyway," Arthur says forcefully, "I'll just have the usual, Gwen. What would you like?" He adds as his eyes shift to me. My eyes look up to the large menu hanging over the counter. I skim over the choices, trying to decide between a normal, macho drink, or letting myself order something girly. With a mental shrug, I look back down at Gwen and step closer to the counter and order.

"I'll have a large red velvet latte, please." Her eyebrows shoot up as her eyes glance briefly over at Arthur, who is staring interestedly at me. I merely shrug and bite back a smile.

"Alright. Go sit down, boys. I'll have these out in a few minutes." Arthur once again takes my hand gingerly in his as he leads me to a secluded booth in the back corner of the cafe. As we sit, a question pops into my head.

"What's your usual?" I ask. Arthur smiles fondly as he looks over my face.

"A black coffee with half a cinnamon bun." I actually laugh out loud at the contrast between our drinks. Arthur joins in softly, and I notice a subtle twinkle in his eyes. I like it. Before we can really get into our conversation, Gwen appears with two mugs and a plate with a full cinnamon bun on it. When Arthur looks up, confusion written over his features, she just grins.

"The other half is on the house. Thought you might like to share." She shrugs with a wink my way before turning and going back to her spot behind the counter.

"Sorry." Arthur groans from beside me. "She's my best friend but she can be a little over-bearing sometimes." I smile and reach out to grab my steaming hot latte.

"Don't worry about it. She seems great." Our booth goes quiet as Arthur pulls his coffee and sweet treat closer. I watch him with interest as he pulls a small, bite size piece off the bun and swirls it around in his coffee for a moment before bringing it up to his mouth. My eyes stay stuck on his lips for a moment before I shake myself and pull my attention away and focus on my own drink again. "So, you had wanted to talk?" I finally break the silence.

Across from me, Arthur nods silently. He swallows slowly before looking up and meeting my gaze. "Yeah." His face screws up slightly in thought, so I stay quiet and let him figure out where he wants to start. At long last he opens his mouth and takes a deep breath. My heart rate spikes as he meets my eyes again.

"Obviously this is all crazy. Especially for me. This should be impossible, and yet here we are. I did truly love Leon, and I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. But that didn't happen, and I can't go back and change what happened. I'm not gonna lie, when I figured out that I suddenly had a new soulmate, I was excited. Nobody wants to live alone and in the dark. Not after seeing colour. But I also felt so guilty."

I'm still not too sure where this is going for me, so I stay quiet. "However, I know that Leon wouldn't want me to push away my second chance at love and happiness. For whatever reason, the Universe decided that I deserved a second chance, and you deserve your chance at the same thing. Who am I to take that away from you? I'm still going to need time, because losing Leon so suddenly still hurts so much. It's still so fresh and I just... I need time to adjust to that." We lock eyes again and his face softens. Reaching up, he brushes his hand over my cheek.

"That being said," he continues, as he gazes up into my eyes, "I don't feel like I need to take that time by myself anymore. I can't deny this thing between us. When we're apart, it's like I'm constantly being pulled to you, and when we're together, it feels like I'm floating. It's different than it was with Leon, but it's just as intoxicating. It's like I have no control over what I'm feeling. I want to laugh and cry all at once. I don't really understand how we're soulmates now, but for better or worse, you're stuck with me."

Sure enough, tears are welling up in his blue eyes. As one falls and starts running silently down his cheek, I reach out and brush it away with my thumb. I may not know exactly how he feels, but I can use my imagination to an extent. The Universe is pulling him to me. Feelings are already forming. That's just the way soulmates are. They fall in love very quickly. For him, though, he was already in love once. Now he feels guilty about moving on. At least for other people, generally older couples, when they lose their soulmate they have a lifetime of memories together, and for the most part they follow their soulmate a year or two later. Not Arthur.

"I'm here for you, no matter what. I can't deny the feelings for you that are already building, but we'll take everything at your pace. You're the one who lost their soulmate." Arthur lifts teary eyes up to meet mine.

"I may have lost a soulmate, but I guess I was lucky enough to get a new one. I know this is going to be hard for you too, but just know that once I work through all this, I will love you too. Just as much as I loved Leon. You deserve that much." My own eyes glisten with tears as my eyes search over his face. When they finally settle on his own again, I'm surprised to find them looking down at my lips instead.

With a shaky exhale, he leans forward and presses his lips against mine. I sigh softly against his mouth as my eyes flutter closed. I bring my hand up to brush softly into his hair. We kiss softly and gently for another moment or two before slowly pulling away. Resting my forehead against his, I open my eyes and stare into his.

"I don't want you feeling guilty." I say quietly into the space between us. He shakes his head slightly.

"No, it's okay." He breathes. "It's comforting." My eyes slip closed again as I smile softly.

"I'll do everything I can to make sure you never hurt like this again." I promise. He presses another quick kiss to my lips before pulling away and sitting back with his coffee.

"So, now that we're soulmates and going to be spending a lot of time together, I guess we should get to know each other better." I chuckle at his words and nod in agreement. I grab my latte and take a sip, pleased to find that it's still hot.

"I'll start." I say. Arthur nods and focuses his attention on me. "What is your favourite breakfast cereal?" I ask with an innocent smile. He laughs, and there's that sparkle again.

"French Toast Crunch." He replies. "You know, the ones in little shapes of bread slices?" I nod excitedly.

"I love that one too!"


	9. Chapter 9

We decide to skip the rest of the school day and just hang out instead. We leave the cafe a couple hours after entering it, and Gwen makes me promise to come by again soon. I'm surprised with how easily I do, and that I 100% mean it. We walk hand in hand around outside until we come to a park a little ways away. Something about it sparks my memory, making me look over at Arthur. He's standing still and staring over at a nondescript bench. But to him, it means so much more.

"Is this where you met Leon?" I ask softly. I already have a sneaking suspicion that I know the answer already, and sure enough, Arthur nods. His face is blank. Completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Before I can tell him that he doesn't have to do this, that we can turn around and leave and I won't bring it up, he walks forward. I follow hesitantly along behind him. His grip on my hand tightens the closer we get to the bench. By the time we slowly sink down to sit on it, he has my hand in a vice grip.

I let us sit in silence, despite desperately wanting to know what is going on inside his head. Fortunately, I don't have to wait very long. "This is where everything started and ended for me and Leon." Arthur’s voice sounds dull and hollow, but he's staying strong. When he looks up at me, I notice the unshed tears in his eyes. "I guess in a way, it's also where you and I technically started too." I raise my eyebrows in surprise. "This is where Le-  _ he  _ made the decision to leave me. After everything I've learned, I have to wonder if he maybe knew what would happen if he..." He drags off into a choked silence.

I watch helplessly as Arthur shifts almost fluidly back and forth from sad to angry and back again. "I just... why would he do that to me?" He finally chokes out. His voice is so soft that had it been busier I may have missed his words entirely. But I do hear them. And they break my heart. This whole situation is just so messed up. I pull my hand away from his, making him look back up with confusion. However, his expression softens and he closes his eyes as I wrap my arms around him and pull him into me. He sighs softly as he melts into my embrace.

We stay there, in each other's arms, for what feels like hours, but is probably only a minute or two. "I'm sorry." Arthur croaks against my chest. I shush him gently and press a gentle kiss against the top of his head.

"Nonsense." I chastise. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We're connected now, and I'm here to carry you until you can walk on your own again. No matter how long that takes. You're not alone in this anymore, and you ever will be again." Arthur wiggles out of my grasp so he can raise watery eyes up to meet mine.

"You are unbelievable, you know that?" He whispers before pressing a chaste kiss to my lips. I chuckle as he pulls away.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." He smiles softly.

"It was." He replies. With one last kiss, he gets to his feet. Holding out both hands, he takes mine and pulls me up. "Now that I've officially ruined the happy mood, let's go somewhere less depressing." I squeeze his hands firmly and rest my forehead against his.

"You're fine. I'm glad you brought me here when it means so much to you." Arthur gives me a watery smile before stepping back and letting go of one of my hands. With the other still clutched tightly in his, he leads me away. I allow myself to be pulled along beside him. I keep quiet and just let him take me wherever he wants to go.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" He asks when we're a good distance away from the park. I huff out a laugh.

"I'm assuming you don't mean the first time we met as soulmates." It's not a question, I'm just stalling to avoid reliving that disaster of a first impression. Arthur looks at me and laughs.

"No, I don't. I mean when I first moved here in fourth grade." I can feel the horrible and incriminating blush flood my whole face. I wince as I nod reluctantly. Arthur looks at me with amused eyes. "Well?" He prompts when I don't say anything. I groan and hide my face against his shoulder as we walk. It shakes with good-natured laughter.

"Fine." I groan when I realize that he's not going to let me off the hook. I straighten up, but don't look at him as my cheeks flush as even darker shade of red. "I hadn't been feeling well all that morning, but my parents thought I was just faking it. I was really bad for that when I was younger. Anyway, they shipped me off to school despite my protests that I felt nauseous. I had been sitting in the back corner with Will when you walked in and the teacher introduced you. At that exact moment I suddenly felt horrible. I don't remember the teacher's name, but she send you over to the corner that Will and I were sitting in. You sat down, said hi, and I promptly puked all over your lap."

Arthur laughs as I finish, and kisses my flushed red and burning hot cheek. "Yeah, you did. Then started crying out of embarrassment, which I feel really make it all so much worse." I groan and playfully shove Arthur away from me. He stumbles sideways a few steps, laughing happily. At least he's smiling again, even if it  _ did  _ come from stripping away my ego and sense of pride. He steps back and laces our fingers together. "To be honest, I felt a lot worse for you than I did for me." He admits. I look sideways at him, but stubbornly don't turn to look at him properly. "I mean, sure, I had a lap full of vomit, but you just looked so distressed."

We continue on in silence for a moment. "Do you want to know something?" He asks softly. At the change in his voice, I do finally look over at him and hum quietly in reply. "I was actually kinda disappointed when we met and weren't soulmates. Maybe that's why I feel so guilty about Leon, and so comfortable with you. I guess in a way, you were always the one I wanted." My feet stop moving, and before I even fully know what I'm doing, I pull Arthur into me and crash my lips to his.

He gasps in surprise before relaxing against me and kissing me back. His words are replaying in the back of my mind. Maybe the Universe chose  _ me _ as his new soulmate cause I was the one that he wanted. That doesn't change the fact that he still loved Leon dearly, and in a way he always will. I push the thoughts aside and focus on the feeling of his lips moving languidly with my own. When I pull away, he looks shyly up at me. His eyes are shining with something indecipherable.

"I think that's why you're my new soulmate. I think that's why the Universe chose you and pulled you into this mess with me." He voices my thoughts. I grin and kiss him softly one more time. He sighs happily as we pull away from each other again.

"You don't have to feel guilty, or like you're betraying Leon. He made his decision, knowing full well how it would affect you. He would want you to move on and be happy." I murmur into his hair as he snuggles closer into my arms. He hums non-committally and shrugs. I close my eyes and hold him tighter, completely forgetting the fact that we're in the middle of the street, where prying eyes can watch everything we do. It somehow feels like that doesn't really matter at the moment.


	10. Chapter 10

_ **From: Arthur, 3:03 PM**   
Hey, so I was thinking that maybe we could go out for dinner tonight? _

_ **From: Arthur, 3:03 PM**   
And maybe a movie after? _

_ **From: Arthur, 3:04 PM**   
Idk what's playing, but we could just see what's on when we get there. _

_ **From: Arthur, 3:04 PM**   
If you're not busy. If you are that's okay. _

_**From: Arthur, 3:05 PM**  
I'm sorry. I should've sent all that as one text. Sorry!_

I chuckle to myself as I read over his onslaught of texts. I don't even really care that he sent that many in a row. I think it's kind of cute. 

_**To: Arthur, 3:06 PM**   
Sounds good to me. Should I pick you up at 6 for dinner?_

I lay back down against my pillow once I've hit send. Placing my phone on my chest, I close my eyes and smile. Things between Arthur and I these past two weeks have been great. Sure, some days are harder for him than others, but he's entitled to that. He basically  _ just _ lost someone very important to him. Things haven't progressed beyond just kissing yet, and even those are very tame. No tongues have been involved. They're just simple kisses with no intention of leading to anything else. And I am completely fine with that. To be honest, sex still kind of freaks me out. People have always made it out to be such a huge deal. 

My phone buzzes on my chest, making me startle slightly out of my thoughts. I take a moment to slow my heart rate before grabbing my phone and unlocking it. I smile stupidly as I read over Arthur’s reply.

_ **From: Arthur, 3:08 PM**   
How about 5? I miss your face. _

I shake my head, grin still firmly in place as I type out a reply.

_**To: Arthur, 3:08 PM**  
Perfect. 5 it is. I'll see you soon._

With that, I place my phone on my nightstand and plug it in to charge. I get to my feet sluggishly and stretch. Being a Saturday, I've done nothing more than lay in bed in my boxers and watch Netflix on my tablet. The only breaks from that, that I got were trips to the bathroom down the hall and trips down to the kitchen to stock up on snacks. With my parents away for the day, I didn't even have to put proper clothes on. It's been a very freeing experience. But as great as it's been, I am excited to see Arthur. Sounds weird, considering I saw him at school yesterday and we went to our cafe for a couple hours after, but what can I say? He  _ is _ my soulmate after all.

I lazily cross my bedroom to my dresser and pull open drawers. I shift through my clothes, looking for something date worthy. I grab a new pair of boxers, along with my favourite pair of black skinny jeans. However, when it comes to a shirt, I pause. I don't want to go overboard, but I also want to look my best. After a good, and mildly embarrassing, ten minutes I finally settle on a plain black tee with a blue, black, and white plaid flannel thrown over top.

With my clothes picked out  _(God, I feel like such a girl)_ ,  I make my way out into the hall and down to the bathroom. As I enter, I flick on the lights and the overhead fan. I place my bundle of clean clothes on the counter then proceed to the shower and turn the water on to warm up. As the sound of water running fills the small room, I strip my boxers off. Leaving them on the floor, I step closer to the water and stick a hand out. I retract it pretty quickly when I feel the only mildly warm water. With a sigh, I lean against the counter and think about our date tonight.

I'm still debating on whether to bring up being official boyfriends or not when I go back and test the water again. A satisfied sigh leaves my slightly parted lips when I feel the perfect temperature. I step under the spray and tilt my head back. I let the water run over my body for a moment before grabbing my shampoo and soaping up my hair. I manage to not get soap in my eyes as I rinse it out. Grabbing my bar of soap, I clean the rest of my body before rinsing the lather off completely. I stay under the hot water another moment or two before reaching out and turning the water off entirely.

Stepping back out, I grab my towel and scrub my hair. Once the rest of my body is mostly dry, I hang my now wet towel up and start pulling my fresh boxers on. I struggle my skinny jeans on against the steam lingering in the air and keeping my skin still slightly damp. At long last, I finally have them up and the button and zip done up snugly around my hips. I pull my tee on over my still damp hair before shrugging my flannel on. Leaving it unbuttoned, I open the bathroom door and head back to my room.

I waste another three quarters of an hour or so on my tablet before I start to get ready to leave. Once my phone, wallet, and keys are all securely in my pockets, I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. I quickly scribble down a note for my parents about where I've gone, just in case they get home before me, and leave it on the counter in plain sight. Pulling my phone out, I shoot Arthur a text that I'm on my way, then pull my shoes on and leave.

Ten minutes later, I pull up outside of his house. I smile when I see him get up off the front porch steps and make his way over. "Hey." He greets, almost as shyly as ever. I grin back.

"Hey." I say softly as I lean over and capture his lips with mine for a quick kiss. I notice the blush on his cheeks as I pull away, but don't comment on it.

“So, where do you wanna go for dinner?" He ask as he buckles his seatbelt up. He looks up at me after and grins.

"Honestly, I was thinking Subway." I laugh. He meets my gaze and laughs as well.

"Works for me, but next time I'm taking you out to a super fancy restaurant." He says. I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

I flick my blinker on and shoulder check before pulling out onto the road. A few minutes later, we park outside of a nearby Subway. Somehow, it looks deserted, so we scramble out of the car before everyone else decides to show up. We get our sandwiches quickly and take them to the table farthest from the counter.

"What movie do you want to see?" Arthur asks as he unwraps his sandwich and takes a huge bite. I snort out a laugh as I do the same, but take a much smaller bite. He swallows then sticks his tongue out at me. I decide to ignore his lack of table manners and instead answer his question.

"I don't know. I've heard good things about Captain Marvel. I haven't seen it yet." I say with a shrug. When I look back up, confused as to why Arthur hasn't said anything, I find him staring at me open-mouthed.

"What?!" He finally manages to splutter out incredulously. I shrug bashfully again. He slowly nods. "Okay then. That's settled. We are going to see that one, for sure." I laugh and shake my head.

"Okay. No arguments here." With that settled, we slip into an easy and comfortable silence as we both eat. As soon as we're both done, though, Arthur gets to his feet and drags me up after him. I barely have time to throw my garbage away before he's dragging me back outside and to my car.

"Come on, lets go! You have a kick ass, amazing movie to see!" He orders as he ushers me to the driver’s side door. I laugh at his urgency as I unlock my car and slide down behind the wheel. He buckles quickly as I start my car. I buckle too before putting my car in reverse and backing out of my spot. Once it's back in drive, I make my way to the generally least busy movie theatre in town. As soon as we're parked, Arthur flies out and hurries around to my side. I barely have time to unbuckle and open my door before he pulls me out. He locks the door then closes it and promptly drags me over to the front doors.

He hurries us to the main counter and orders two tickets for the next viewing of Captain Marvel, which happens to be in about twenty minutes. As soon as we have our tickets, he drags me over to the concession.

"I know we just ate, but I can't watch a movie without an iced tea and some sour skittles." He explains as he steps up to the counter. I watch him fondly as he orders and pays. Once his hands are full, he leads the way to the specific theatre we need to go to.

As we head inside of the room, we find the place practically deserted. There's a group of about eight teens lining a row about halfway up. Arthur takes the lead, going all the way up to the very back. He leads us down the row until we're as close to the middle as possible.

"Sitting in the back is just habit, I guess. Leon always wanted us to have as few people looking at us as possible, what with having to keep our relationship a secret and all." I grin wickedly at him as we settle into our seats.

Leaning over, I hover by his ear and whisper, "Well now we can make out and no one would even know." I smirk as I pull away and see the dark red blush covering Arthur’s cheeks.

"Uhm, y-yeah. I s-suppose so." He stutters out. I chuckle at his awkwardness as I sit back.

"But only if you want to. I'm not going to make you do something that you're not comfortable with." I tell him sincerely. He smiles at me, but doesn't comment. Instead, he launches into a story that happened earlier this morning.

Our small talk continues until the lights start to dim. A few more people have wandered in, but we are still very much secluded in the back row. I settle back, ready to watch the few upcoming previews. I do so, for about a minute or two at least. Arthur starts running his hand lightly up and down my thigh. At first, I think it's an innocent gesture, but when it finally comes to rest extremely close to my crotch, I look over at him. He bites his bottom lip as we make eye contact. My breathing hitches as his gaze slips down to my lips. I'm not sure who leans in first, but next thing I know, our lips have crashed together.

I'm expecting this kiss to go as all our others have. That's why I'm so surprised to feel his tongue run over my lower lip. I open my mouth and let him in, almost moaning out loud as our tongues tangle hotly. Bringing my hand up, I run my fingers into his hair and grip the silky strands. He almost whimpers as I do so, and his grip on my thigh tightens. I exhale shakily though my nose and I press our mouths more forcefully together. We don't pull apart until the sound of the  _ Marvel Studios  _ opening music fills the theatre.

I'm panting, trying to catch my breath, as we lock eyes again. He giggles slightly, removing his hand from my leg and instead taking my hand and tangling our fingers together. We remain silent, and behave ourselves, as the movie plays.

As the lights slowly come on, I feel utterly blown away. "So, what did you think?" He asks as the credits roll up. I give him a wide smile.

"I thought it was great." He smiles just as widely back. Arthur swings our joined hands back and forth as we make our way out of the building.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask." He says as we step outside. I hum in reply. "I was wondering if maybe it'd be okay if I told people you were my boyfriend? Like, I know we're soulmates, so it's kind of a given, but I'd like to call you my boyfriend, and we haven't really talked about it before." I pull him to a halt and press a soft, loving kiss to his lips.

"I would love to officially be your boyfriend." I assure him with a smile.


	11. Chapter 11

** ONE MONTH LATER **

After a month of nonstop pestering, my parents finally convinced me to bring Arthur around to meet them. It took a bit of convincing on my part to get Arthur to agree, but he finally relented. However, he made me promise to meet him at his place and go together. He didn't want to show up at my house by himself. So at four o'clock, I head out to my boyfriend's house. Dinner isn't until six o'clock but he wanted me to come over early to help him pick something nice to wear.

At quarter after, I pull up out front and get out of the car. I knock on the front door, smile breaking out across my face as Arthur answers the door. I still have yet to meet his parents too.

"Hey." He greets breathlessly as I walk in and close the front door. He wraps his arms around my waist as I turn back to face him. I hum contentedly and smile at him.

"Hey, yourself." Leaning in, I press my lips to his. He immediately kisses back, pushing my shoulders slightly so I back up until I'm flush against the door. I open my mouth as his tongue gently caresses my lower lip. A moan slips past my defences as he steps closer and presses himself against me completely. I fully tangle my fingers in his hair and pull, making him groan in return. When he finally pulls back, his cheeks are flushed red. I admire his slightly swollen lips before chuckling softly.

"Did you just want me here early so we could fool around before you meet my parents?" I tease playfully.

He blushes even more and mumbles, "No."

Turning away, he leads me through his house and to his room. A complete disaster greets me as I step through the doorway. Clothes of every type are strewn haphazardly around the room. "I really  _do_ need you to help my pick what to wear." He groans, sinking heavily onto his nearly buried bed. I whistle lowly as I look over the mess.

"Arthur, you know it's really not that big of a deal. Just wear what you always do." He looks at me, utterly shocked.

"I can't do that! I'll look like a slob! I need to dress nice so I can make a proper first impression." I pick my way gingerly through the mess so I can sit beside my boyfriend on the bed.

"Babe, you always look great. You could literally wear a garbage bag and my parents would still love you." Arthur gives me a weak smile. I sigh in defeat and turn back to the disaster before me. "Okay, fine. But just be warned, cause I don't exactly have the greatest fashion sense. I just wear band shirts everyday." I feel his hand come to rest around my waist as I try to mentally sort through the mess of clothing around the room.

After a few minutes, I get to my feet and head over to a pile. Digging through, I pull out what I thought I had seen. Triumphantly, I turn back to Arthur and hold up a pair of dark wash jeans. "These for sure. They make your ass look great. My parents won't care, but it's a definite perk for me." Arthur rolls his eyes as I toss them over to him. Now comes the hard part. Like I said, I generally only wear band shirts.

With a heavy sigh, I kneel down and start sorting through the multiple piles of clothes. I can feel Arthur’s eyes on me as I go from pile to pile, but I try to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. After what feels like hours, I finally have a small selection for Arthur to choose from. My knees crack as I get to my feet, making me wince. Arthur laughs slightly from his spot on his bed.

"What have you got for me, old man?" He teases. I stick my tongue out at him before once again slowly making my way over to him.

"Okay." I say, almost out of breath, as I get to him. "You have three choices." I say matter-of-factly. "Number one." I announce as I hold up a plain tee-shirt with a Flash lightening bolt down the front. Arthur immediately shakes his head.

"I'd look bad. No." I sigh and throw the shirt at his head. He laughs as he raises his hands to fend off my fabric attack. Once he gets it off his head, he throws it back on the floor. I open my mouth to tell him off for being messy, but just close my mouth again without saying anything. We've had this conversation way too many times before, and it never gets us anywhere.

"Okay. Number two." I hold up a white tee-shirt and a red and white flannel together, much like what I wore to the movies that one time. Arthur looks thoughtful as he looks it over. Sadly, he shakes his head.

"No. I'm pretty sure that, that shirt is actually yours, and if I show up wearing your clothes that'll create too many questions and assumptions." I look at the shirt in surprise.

"Huh. Good point." I say, neatly laying the two items down atop Arthur’s pillows. I had been wondering where that shirt had gone. I wonder when he took it.

"Okay. Last choice." I say holding up a plain black button down. I hold my breath as Arthur looks it over. If he says no to this one, then I have to start all over again, and I really just don't cherish that idea. Much to my great relief, he slowly smiles.

"That's it! That's perfect!" He says happily as he gets to his feet. With his jeans in one hand, he grabs the shirt with his other. "See? This is why I needed your help. I'll be right back." He pecks my lips quickly before heading to his bedroom door.

As he disappears through it, I sink down onto his bed. It is so incredibly soft, it's like sitting on a cloud. I'm seriously debating on just lying down and taking a nap when Arthur’s bedroom door reopens and he appears in the doorway. I have to stop my jaw from falling open.

"Wow." I breathe, eyes unashamedly roaming over his body. He smooths his hands subconsciously down his front. Getting to my feet, I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his neck. I feel his hands automatically settle on my hips.

"Have I ever told you how incredibly beautiful you are?" I ask quietly. He blushes and drops his gaze to our feet.

"Stop it." He whines. He's still very difficult to give compliments to. I use my right hand to tip his head back up and lock my eyes with his.

"I mean it." I tell him firmly. He tries to look away again, but I don't let him. Instead, I use my hand on his chin to guide his mouth to mine. He relaxes against me as I kiss him sweetly. Reluctantly, I pull away. "As much as I'd rather stay here and kiss you, we  _ do  _ have a dinner to get to." He takes a deep, nervous breath and nods.

He takes my hand in his and leads me back down to the front door. I'm man enough to admit that I stare at his ass as he bends down and puts his shoes on. I wasn't lying when I said that they make his ass look amazing. Arthur catches me staring as he straightens up and glares playfully at me. I shrug innocently before giving him a wicked, toothy grin.

"Whatever." He mumbles with a very dramatic eye roll. I step outside and make my way down to my car as he locks up behind us. I have the passenger door open and ready for him when he reaches me. When he's in, I close the door and go around to my side and get in. Arthur’s fingers are flexing nervously over the denim covering his knees. Reaching out, I place my hand over his.

"It's okay. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. They already love you almost as much as I do." I say, not even realizing what I've just said. I miss Arthur’s wide eyes entirely as I turn back and start the car. Arthur says nothing as I pull out onto the street and make our way back to my place. It isn't until we're almost there that I suddenly realize what had so easily tumbled out of my mouth.

_'_ _ Oh shit.' _ I think to myself. I don't say anything else until I have the car parked out front of my house, and have it turned off and the key out of the ignition. I turn to Arthur, ready to apologize, but he beats me to it.

"Did you really mean it?" He asks softly. "Do you really love me?" He clarifies, even though I know exactly what he means. And he knows that I know.

Without hesitation, I reply, "Yeah, I did. And I do." I reach out and take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. I've always thought that they fit together perfectly. Like two pieces of the same puzzle.

"I love you, Arthur." I repeat. His face stays blank for a moment before he breaks out into a brilliant smile.

"I love you too, Merlin." I think my smile probably matches his perfectly as well. Before I can lean across the console and kiss the crap out of him, though, I see the front door open and both of my parent's silhouettes appear. They wave madly at me from across the yard. I awkwardly wave back.

"We'll continue this later." I promise him. He nods a little, eyes still sparkling like mad. Giving him a quick kiss, I turn and exit my car. He meets me on the sidewalk, immediately taking my hand in his as we make our way up the walkway to my front door. He tries to hide behind me as we get closer, so I pull my hand away from his and wrap a secure arm around his waist instead.

"Mom, Dad, this is Arthur. Arthur, this is my Mom and Dad." I introduce as we come to a stop in front of them.

"Oh, come here." My mom cries as she throws her arms around his shoulders and pulls him into a giant hug. He stiffens in surprise for a moment before hugging her back. I'm about to intervene when my Mom finally lets him go. My Dad goes for a much more tame handshake.

"It's good to finally meet you." He says.

Arthur smiles politely. "You too."

"Dinner is ready now. It finished cooking sooner than I expected." My Mom says as we all step inside the house. The delicious smell of a roast of some sort hits me like a tidal wave. Arthur meets my eyes as we slip our shoes off. I give him a reassuring smile then wrap my arm back around his waist and lead him to the dining room.

"Sit." I say as I push him gently toward the table. "I'll bring out a plate for you." He opens his mouth to protest so I shake my head. “Sit, babe." I order. He reluctantly does so. I meet my parents in the kitchen where they're both already piling food on four plates.

"Oh, Merlin, he seems absolutely lovely." My Mom gushes as she catches sight of me. I laugh lightly as I take a full plate from my father.

"You've only just met him." I point out, accepting another one with my other hand.

"I know. Doesn't change my opinion." She says with finality. I shrug with a shake of my head.

"I guess that's better than not getting your approval." My Dad glances at the entry to the dining room, then looks back at me.

"What's not to approve of? He seems like a perfect match for my son." I actually get tears in my eyes as I smile at them.

"Thanks guys. I love you." The three of us bring the plates into the dining room. Arthur’s face visibly brightens as we make eye contact. Sitting down beside him, I place a plate in front of him and the other in front of myself.

"Thanks." He says shyly. Soon enough, the sound of cutlery on ceramics fills the room along with the usual  _ 'get to know you' _ questions and conversation. I stay ready to interrupt should Arthur need it, but he manages okay and actually starts to loosen up as dinner progresses. We share brief glances every so often, which always result in shy smiles. I really do love him with all my heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this whole thing sucked, it’s cause I did write it a while ago. My literary skills have (hopefully) come a long way since then. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I know it was probably too fast, and I could’ve fleshed it out a lot more, and maybe some time in the future I will revisit it and do just that. For now, this is it.
> 
> If you have made it this far, just know that I think you’re all pretty awesome, and I love you guys!! In a friendship way, of course. (Maybe I’ll even shamelessly self-promote myself by suggesting you all go read my MUCH BETTER works so you end up with a high opinion of my writing skills.)


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